Computer Science Option

About the Course

GCSE Computer Science is designed to get students working with real-world, practical programming techniques that give them a good understanding of what makes technology work. Students will study practical programming using Python. They will also study how a computer works, computer networks and system software as well as how technology is used in society.

Exam Board

OCR
  • Examination Paper 1 - 50% Computer Systems 
  • Examination Paper 2 - 50% Computational thinking, algorithms and programming

Course Content

This course aims to allow students the opportunity to work with real-world practical programming techniques that give students a good understanding of what makes technology work.  The subject is taught within a range of realistic contexts based around major themes within the specification of computer architecture, systems software, networking security and numeracy in computing.  Students studying this specification will learn how a computer system works as well as gaining skills on how to program a computer

Beyond the Classroom

Studying Computer Science at GCSE can lead onto the A-Level Computer Science course also provided by OCR.  This course has two units: Paper 1 which focuses on the fundamentals of computer systems and Paper 2, which is a theoretical unit which covers the fundamentals of computer programming, computational logic and data representation. The careers this subject could lead you to is :
  • App Developer
  • AI Engineer
  • Computer Hardware Engineer
  • Cyber Protection Officer
  • Database Analyst
  • Games Developer
  • IT Analyst
  • IT Consultant
  • Information Security Analyst
  • Network Manager
  • Robotics Programmer
  • Social Media Manager
  • Software Development
  • Software Engineer
  • System Analyst
  • System Architect
  • Technician Author
  • Technician
  • UX Designer

Your Future

From a Students Perspective Computer Science is good because I have learnt different computing languages and we do a lot of different programming techniques.  The controlled assessments allow me to be creative and expand on my problem-solving skills.    -  Year 11 Student